ISIL claims two 'soldiers' killed French priest after seizing hostages

Police have shot dead two men who took a priest and several others hostage at knifepoint at a church in north-western France.

French President Francois Hollande stands outside the Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray's city hall after holding a press conference following a hostage-taking at a church of the town that left the priest dead. Hollande said that the attackers had "claimed to be from Daesh," using the Arabic name for the Islamic State group.(Photo: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU, AFP/Getty Images)

PARIS — France became the target of a new terrorist attack Tuesday, when two men armed with knives killed an elderly priest and injured three others after seizing hostages at a Catholic church in Normandy. The Islamic State claimed responsibility.

Both attackers were shot dead by French police as they attempted to leave the church. Three people were rescued unharmed, according to the French government. Police said the two attackers recorded their actions inside the church, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported.

The incident took place around 9:30 during morning Mass at a parish church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, a community of 29,000 people near the city of Rouen, about 75 miles northwest of Paris.

The Amaq news agency, linked to Islamic State, said "two IS soldiers" carried out the hostage-taking. "The two executors of the attack on a church in Normandy, France, were soldiers of the Islamic State," the news agency quoted the Islamic State. "They executed the operation in response to calls to target countries belonging to the crusader coalition."

The slain priest was Jacques Hamel, 85, Archbishop of Rouen Dominique Lebrun said in a statement. Police said it appeared the attackers had slit the priest's throat with a knife.

“We are facing a group that has declared war on us," French President François Hollande said after rushing to Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. “We have to fight this war with every means.”

The latest attack came 12 days after 84 people were killed on Bastille Day (July 14) in Nice by a lone terrorist, possibly inspired by the Islamic State, who drove a large truck through the crowd. France has been under a state of emergency since last November's terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.

Molins said Kermiche was wearing an electronic surveillance bracelet that was deactivated for a few hours every morning, the Associated Press reported.

Kermiche, who grew up Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, was arrested in Germany in March 2015 trying to join extremists in Syria using his brother’s ID, and then was arrested in Turkey two months later using a cousin’s ID, Molins said. Upon his return, he was put under judicial supervision with an electronic bracelet, the AP said.

A nun who was in the church and able to escape told radio station RMC the attackers burst into the church.

"Everyone in the church was screaming, ‘Stop it, stop it! You don’t know what you are doing.’ They forced him (the priest) to kneel down. He tried to defend himself," said the nun, identified by the station as Sister Danielle.

“I reacted when they attacked Jacques. I ran out quickly. They were busy attacking him, so they didn’t see me leave. They filmed themselves. They preached a sermon in Arabic near the altar. It was horrible. Jacques was an extraordinary priest," she told the station.

The French Interior Ministry spokesman, Pierre-Henry Brandet, said the investigation into the incident would be led by anti-terrorism prosecutors. An unidentified person was taken into police custody as part of the investigation, Le Figaro reported.

The Vatican issued a statement from Krakow, Poland, where Pope Francis was visiting, saying,

the attack hits particularly hard “because this horrific violence took place in a church, a sacred place in which the love of God is announced, and the barbaric murder of a priest and the involvement of the faithful.”

Diebel reported from New York.

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A French security official confirms police have killed the two attackers who used knives to take hostages in a church near the city of Normandy.